In this article we are going to talk about the signs your pets may display in cases of emergency situations. These are situations that require you to take your pet to the veterinarian as soon as possible. But sometimes you are unable to do so, due to various circumstances, or can't take them immediately or soon enough. Maybe your car is broken, or maybe you live too far away, or maybe 5 feet of snow block the entrance to your house. Unfortunately, with the upcoming Ice Age and recent extreme weather, this scenario is very real.

So becoming aware of various situations where you yourself would have to provide basic emergency care may turn out to be crucial.

First of all, it's important to remember that our furry members of the family can't talk - at least not in a way we can always understand. Therefore, it's vital to observe your pet on a daily basis and know their usual behavior in order to be able to see when something is wrong. It is also important in order to give accurate and as extensive as possible information to your veterinarian. Just like with humans, if your pets have allergies or any medical sensitivities, or if you already gave them any medicine, it's also very important to mention it.

And if you aren't sure, refrain from giving your pets so-called human medicine, like aspirin, for example. It may not be lethal for dogs, but cats lack an enzyme critical for metabolizing salicylic acid (the active ingredient of aspirin) properly. The resulting symptoms can range from simply scary (like tremors or foaming), up to loss of consciousness and death.

Conflicts of interest have become more the rule than the occasional exception. Even the trusted US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) receives heavy funding from industry.

How this conflict of interest may have affected the organization's decisions is the topic of an article1 in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), penned by the journal's associate editor, Jeanne Lenzer, who notes:

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) includes the following disclaimer with its recommendations:

"CDC, our planners, and our content experts wish to disclose they have no financial interests or other relationships with the manufacturers of commercial products... CDC does not accept commercial support."

The CDC's image as an independent watchdog over the public health has given it enormous prestige, and its recommendations are occasionally enforced by law.

Despite the agency's disclaimer, the CDC does receive millions of dollars in industry gifts and funding, both directly and indirectly, and several recent CDC actions and recommendations have raised questions about the science it cites, the clinical guidelines it promotes, and the money it is taking."

New research from the University of Copenhagen and Herlev and Gentofte Hospital shows that high vitamin C concentrations in the blood from the intake of fruit and vegetables are associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and early death.

The study, which has just been published in the well known American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, is based on the Copenhagen General Population Study.

As part of the study, the researchers had access to data about 100,000 Danes and their intake of fruit and vegetables as well as their DNA. "We can see that those with the highest intake of fruit and vegetables have a 15% lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease and a 20% lower risk of early death compared with those who very rarely eat fruit and vegetables. At the same time, we can see that the reduced risk is related to high vitamin C concentrations in the blood from the fruit and vegetables," says Camilla Kobylecki, a medical doctor and PhD student at the Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Herlev and Gentofte Hospital.

Comment: There have been numerous studies showing that Vitamin C is able to cure many diseases and that having getting adequate amounts of this essential nutrient can prevent disease as well. However, eating large amounts of fruit and vegetables means you will be consuming a high amount of carbohydrates, which have been shown to be detrimental to cardiovascular health. Eating a diet that is low in carbohydrates, with adequate amounts of saturated fats and quality sources of meat, and supplementing when necessary with high-quality vitamin C is a much better way to maintain your health.

On the rise: The number of prescriptions has risen by 50 per cent in a decade

Britons are taking more medicines than ever before - with more than a billion prescriptions a year now being handed out, figures reveal today.

The number of prescriptions has risen by 50 per cent in a decade and is being driven by a surge in the use of antidepressants, painkillers, statins and drugs for diabetes.

Some elderly patients with a number of long-term illnesses end up taking a cocktail of different drugs each day, which can cause dangerous reactions.

The figures have alarmed medical experts, who say the nation has become 'over-medicalised' and that thousands of patients are suffering harmful side effects.

The huge rise has also been partly blamed on a bonus system for GPs that means they earn points, which are then converted into cash, for prescribing treatments for a range of common conditions.

Comment: The UK is not the only 'beneficiary' of BigPharma's hand in medicine. One way to stem the tide of over-medication would be to stop the incentive programs that the industry uses to insure that doctors are firmly in their grasp. The constant bombardment of pharma advertising as well as the demonization of alternative medicine has been another reason that people are more likely to reach for pill-solutions to their problems. In short, as long as the pharmaceutical industry controls the medical field, the over-medication of the population will only continue to increase.

We have all heard the old adage "you are what you eat", but science is discovering even more of a connection between our digestive tract and our overall health.

Commonly referred to as "gut health", the gut microbiota, which consist of trillions of microbes, may influence more than bowel regularity and metabolism. These bacterium make up a 6-pound ecosystem inside of every human and produce hormones, communicate directly with our brain via the vagus nerve, and can even produce neurochemicals which influence behavior. Stomach bacteria and mood are connected in ways we never knew before, and scientists are racing to learn more about this fascinating discovery.

A team of Norwegian scientists recently found significant correlation between certain bacteria and symptoms of depression. Patients with irritable bowel syndrome have been found to have significantly higher instances of anxiety and depression. Even individuals with autism are more likely to suffer from digestive problems. By improving our gut health, we may be able to get a handle on a host of somatic and mental health symptoms.

Gov. Brown had 2 weeks to consider signing SB277 into law. It took him just 24 hours. Kenny Valenzuela breaks down the different aspects of the medical tyranny steamrolling ahead, despite the fact that vaccine inserts admit that recipients become contagious for 28 days.

Medical reports compiled on patients' illnesses shows the cholesterol lowering drugs have been associated with a huge dossier of reported side-effects including irreversible muscle breakdown, muscle pain, blood disorders, diabetes, skin disorders, nervous system disorders and stomach problems over the last twenty years.

Between eight and ten million Britons take statins, the most widely prescribed drugs in the UK. However figures from the medicines' watchdog have led to calls for an urgent review of the safety of statins with experts claiming the harm may outweigh any potential benefit in low risk patients.

The figures, compiled by this paper cast further doubt on NICE's decision to lower the prescribing threshold so that the drugs are given to low risk patients and include up to 17 million patients, almost 40 percent of the adult population.

The data, compiled from reports recorded by the government drug watchdog, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, reveals there have been tens of thousands of reported side-effects linked to statins since the drugs came into widespread use over the last two decades.

Many surround issues of muscle degeneration and muscle weakness, sometimes leading to death due to kidney failure.

What happens in the vagus nerve, it turns out, doesn't stay in the vagus nerve. The longest of the cranial nerves, the vagus nerve is so named because it "wanders" like a vagabond, sending out fibers from your brainstem to your visceral organs. The vagus nerve is literally the captain of your inner nerve center—the parasympathetic nervous system, to be specific. And like a good captain, it does a great job of overseeing a vast range of crucial functions, communicating nerve impulses to every organ in your body. New research has revealed that it may also be the missing link to treating chronic inflammation, and the beginning of an exciting new field of treatment that leaves medications behind. Here are nine facts about this powerful nerve bundle.

With a vast network of fibers stationed like spies around all your organs, when the vagus nerve gets wind of the hallmarks of inflammation—cytokines or the inflammatory substance tumor necrosis factor (TNF)—it alerts the brain and elicits anti-inflammatory neurotransmitters via the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway. A certain amount of inflammation after injury or illness is normal. But an overabundance is linked to many diseases and conditions, from sepsis to the autoimmune condition rheumatoid arthritis.

At least five children at a Salem County-run clinic were given improper immunizations, including one who received a cervical cancer prevention vaccine, officials say.

An annual state compliance audit of the Shots For Tots program "identified irregularities respecting its appraisal of standards, policies and competencies regarding the clinic operation, patient records, vaccine storage and medication dispensing," according to a statement released by the county this weekend.

"As soon as it was brought to our attention we reacted to this finding," said Salem County Freeholder Director Julie Acton on Saturday. "Our main concern is the safety of our residents. It's sad and disturbing when something like this takes place."

In addition to the children receiving the wrong medicine, vaccines with an estimated value of $20,000 used for the Shots for Tots program were deemed unsafe after a refrigeration unit failed and they had to be destroyed.

In the wake of the revelations, Salem County agreed to pay for medical monitoring costs for the five children receiving improper immunizations "for the foreseeable future until their medical status may be determined to a reasonable degree of medical certainty."

The parents will take the children to a physician of their choice for the monitoring officials say.

Meanwhile, the clinic has been shut down. The nursing supervisor and nurse in charge of the clinic have both resigned as employees of the Salem County Department of Health, county solicitor Michael Mulligan said Saturday.

Comment: Hard to imagine this would happen "accidentally". Perhaps done purposely to rid their inventory?

The chemicals that we're exposed to in our daily lives are often approved by the government under the assumption that they're safe in small doses, even over a long period of time. For years, regulators relied on the old adage "the dose makes the poison" to try to explain their logic. While that might have appeared true for certain chemicals for many years, we now live in a world where exposure to a large variety of chemicals is unavoidable and it's finally becoming clear that we can't evaluate these chemicals in isolation.

Think about a simple picnic in a city park. The air you breathe is filled with particulate matter from car exhaust, the landscaping was likely treated with chemical fertilizers and Roundup or another weedkiller, the plastic surrounding your food or drink items might contain BPA or phthalates, your drinks could contain preservatives, the antibacterial spray you use on your hands after eating might contain triclosan and the sunscreen you apply on your skin probably contains nanomaterials. Now extrapolate that scenario to each and every activity you partake in on a daily basis.